Defender (New World Book 7) Read online

“No not yet. Tonans invaded Earth. I was kidnapped and brought here.”

  “Where is your captor?”

  “He’s my mate now. I can hear him, he’s searching for me.”

  That was an understatement. Macey was positive she could hear Taz in her mind and he was freaking out with worry. Then she could hear him swearing up a storm near her. He was shielded about twenty feet from her floating as high. Battling the air like a demon.

  “Put me down and give me my mate,” Taz bellowed, talons slicing. “I’m here, Macey. Don’t be scared. Please don’t die of fright. I’m here.”

  “You are trespassing,” the floating face said to Taz. “I blame you for bringing the female here. You are to leave immediately.”

  “Not without my mate,” Taz bellowed. “Set her down gently. This isn’t her fault. I was pressed for time. I had no clue the planet was occupied.”

  “You will leave, now.” The face was glaring at Taz and Macey screamed when Taz was dropped to freefall to the ground.

  “No, don’t drop me I’ll die,” Macey screamed. “Taz!”

  “I am aware of how fragile you are, human. The Tonan will be fine. You are not allowed to remain on this planet. But I have another planet I am ready to introduce toys to. Your mate is too volatile. You are vulnerable. With a thought I can transport you to safety.”

  “You don’t understand. Taz and I are connected. I can feel him in my thoughts. He’s on the move. He will come for me no matter where I am.”

  “He would never find you. You would be safe with the others. They are not humanoid but similar.”

  “I can’t, I need Taz. I want to be in his arms. I can feel him. I feel his panic.”

  “You wish to stay with the Tonan?”

  “Yes.”

  Macey screamed when a solid body crashed into her. Her chest exploded in agony. She sucked in her breath then gagged. The pain was unbearable. She groaned instinctively knowing bones were broken, perhaps her lungs punctured and other organs crushed. Taz enveloped her in the air. The pain stopped immediately. Her body pressed tight to him, her arms were wrapped around his neck, her face buried in his throat. Her legs were around his waist.

  They began to spin wildly in the air. She thought they would freefall to the ground but Taz landed on his feet after a short drop. They stood at the top of a mountain. Taz was growling in fury. His shield was molded to her, calming her. Macey could see through the shield. She was positive Taz had been dropped hundreds of feet. After his fall, he must have raced up the mountain.

  “This—is—my—mate,” Taz bellowed, his entire body shook with the force of his explosion. She would have winced from his frightening tone if the shield hadn’t released secretions into her pores. Every ounce of him was bulging with raw unbridled power. His ragged gasps for air were growls of seething fury. His talons were spread in lethal fashion. Macey knew he wanted to rip the face apart.

  The face chuckled. “My, my, yes he is persistent. You may both go. Now.”

  The red eyes faded as the face turned away with the wind. Taz started down the mountain. Her body pressed to his skin, Macey felt his heart pounding. She wasn’t certain if it was from exertion or worry. One moment he was in the air, his claws connecting with and pushing from the bark of a tree trunk, flying through the air, the next he was on the ground racing. The ground beneath him was eaten up at such a speed Macey closed her eyes for a moment. Taz didn’t stop when they reached the bottom of the mountain. He continued on until he leaped into the shuttle. As soon as the door closed Taz dropped his shield but continued to hold Macey to his chest.

  “I’m so sorry,” Taz whispered his words were frantic. “Please forgive me.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Macey said filled with surprise. “How could you have known a giant fucking floating head would appear and lift us into the clouds? Which was totally freaky.”

  “I hurt you. There was no other way. I had to break its hold. My shield calculated the force of the blow. Life threatening. I knew my shield would fix you, but I’m so sorry. A mate never hurts his mate. Never. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. Your pain hurt me too. I felt it all, everything I did to you. I warned you I can be cruel, but I can’t let anything take you from me. I didn’t do it to be evil, I swear.”

  “I’m fine, Taz. Nothing hurts and it was only for a second.”

  “I should have researched the planet better.”

  Taz carried her to the cot and set her down. He wrapped a blanket around her. He sat beside her, leaning forward. Macey could sense his worry, the idea of knowing and not guessing his emotions helped her to understand him better. She ran her palm down his arm. He was shaking, rocking.

  “Taz?”

  “There are no other planets that damned shuttle can get us to safely. There are black holes, but I can’t risk your life, ever again. We have two choices, Earth or my planet.” He turned to take her in his arms. “I can’t take you to my planet.”

  “Then Earth it is.”

  He moved back, holding her at arm’s length. “Macey, I don’t know if the storms will stop over time. They will get worse, I’m positive. Krish will make certain everything on Earth will be destroyed to get what he wants.”

  “Do you know when you worry your beautiful eyes sparkle with passion? I wish I had eyes like yours.”

  Taz seemed startled. “Your eyes are the color of the sky. Freedom is in the skies.”

  “Your eyes are the color of Earth. Alive, vibrant, living. And chocolate. I’ll tell you a secret about females and chocolate sometime.”

  The shuttle began to rattle. Taz groaned. “Floaty’s not-so-subtle hint. And hell yeah, fucking freaky.”

  He jumped up and ran for the console where he punched in a bunch of codes. The rattling stopped when they were in the air.

  Home.

  Macey was going home. To the good, the bad and somewhere out there, the evil ugly waited.

  Bring it on!

  Chapter 8

  “What’s wrong?”

  Taz monitored the calculations on the console. Earth’s atmosphere was a mess. In the relatively short time they had been gone, the storms were picking up. Everywhere he looked activity loomed; in some areas, more sizable than others. He wanted to get them as close to where he kidnapped Macey.

  “It would appear the Tonans are vamping up their diligent warnings. There’s a snow squall in the area I found you.”

  “That’s not possible. We have gotten snow but nothing major. I mean, the state shuts down when there’s a light dusting.”

  Taz pointed to the console. “You see all the green hovering here, en masse? This is your area. This is snow. Lots of snow.”

  “We’re not equipped to handle blizzards.”

  Taz wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side. He kissed her forehead. “I think you need to go to the replicator and see if you can make it understand hats coats, mitts, and boots. Well, you get my meaning. Try not to fight with it. You’re kind of zero for two now, or is it three.”

  “Can you land this in a blizzard?”

  Taz thought about lying and changed his mind. “It will be rough. I’ll do my best; we’re going to need the shuttle to escape Earth if the storms don’t stop. We’re going to have to hope the skies settle.”

  Macey went to the replicator and shortly he heard her fighting with the machine. Even under the circumstances, he chuckled.

  “No you damn dumb thing, a hat for your head. Grr, not a square one to fit you, damn machine. I’m not a doily. I don’t mean your head, dumbass, you don’t have one. And boots, why can’t you figure out a simple boot? It goes on feet. Fuck, no, you don’t have feet. Arrggg.”

  Taz sighed and left the console to stand by Macey. “Nothing has ever been programmed into this device to give it a clue as to what you want. Tonans don’t wear articles of clothing except pants. Let me try. Oblong eight inch objects, fur lined encased tubes to fit a foot and must be able to deal with subzero levels.” An object
materialized. Macey’s expression was less than stellar.

  “That’s the dumbest looking boot I’ve ever seen. It’s a leather canoe. Great, a machine with a sense of humor.”

  “It’ll have to do.”

  “Taz, you’re going to have to cover up too.”

  “My shield won’t let me freeze.”

  “You plan on being shielded in front of my aunt and two children?”

  “Your clothes are too confining. If I need my shield to go up, too much material is a pain in the ass.”

  “Taz, they’ll be terrified of you.”

  Taz ran a hand over his face. “Macey, it’s getting bad down there. And you need to know your people will get desperate if they haven’t already. Looting, killing, rape, it’s all run rampant or will be. I have to protect you. I will warn you, you may not care for some things I will do.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “No one is allowed to hurt you.”

  “You mean you’ll kill for me?”

  “In less than a heartbeat, I’ll rip out anything’s throat that tries to go after you. I am a fucking bad ass warrior with the power to back me up, and the Tonan temper. Earth isn’t the same and it sure isn’t some cute little powder puff planet with a floating head.”

  She pondered his statement; he could see her eyes flicker which indicated she was thinking of a way to sway him.

  She better come up with something good.

  “If it’s getting that bad we need to get to my aunt. Please don’t scare her to death, she’s older, not old by any means, but older. You are used to the way you look. Humans have grown up fearing monsters. Let them get to know there is a good warrior under the bad ass beast. Please?”

  Damn, he knew she would think of something.

  Taz wanted to growl, he hated the thought of scaring a female to death. Worse was the look of worry on his mate’s face. He hated when she begged. Her eyes were wide and damned if her little bottom lip didn’t curl slightly in a pout. She had a point. He also knew she had no idea she was doing what she did, it just happened. His mate was no simpering plotter. He turned to the replicator, glanced at Macey and took a deep breath before speaking.

  “Oblong fourteen inch objects, fur lined encased tubes to fit a foot. Able to deal with subzero levels.”

  Macey squealed and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you.”

  “You better program a coat in there big enough to fit me.”

  Taz went back to monitor their entry. Static in the airways jumbled his console for a brief moment. He planned on reconfiguring everything when they landed in case they needed to leave Earth again. There would be enough room for Macey’s aunt and two young girls. While on Earth, he could take an in-depth look at the surrounding areas. There had to be a planet with a worm hole close by. Black holes were too dangerous, but he might be able to reinforce the shuttle to withstand a black hole.

  The monitor settled and his shield went up when the console lit up in warning. A massive moving object was on a direct collision course. Taz bellowed for Macey. He punched in a new course at lightning speed, turned and grabbed her to his chest as his shield fell to pull her close. He closed around her and her scream was cut short. He hadn’t been fast enough, or the storm was too strong for the shuttle to respond. A sickening squeal sounded as the shuttles pressed belly to belly.

  Sparks flew against the ebony skies. Their shuttle was on fire, a crash was imminent. The shuttle went dark as the systems went off line. Without the thrusters they were dead in the air and subject to the mercy of the storm. The whooshing hum as they spiraled to the ground filled Taz’s ears. He looked for the safest place in the shuttle.

  The regenerator was a tube. It was made of the strongest substance Taz knew because it was geared to a Tonan shield. Taz went inside and smashed the door closed sealing them in. He punched buttons for back up. The generator kicked in and the generating process began. Taz sucked in everything he could. His shield sensed the urgency and absorbed rays at lightning speed. The crash would be bad; they were in a freefall from the atmosphere. All around the shuttle began to blaze as the fire spread. Soon they would be a ball of fire.

  Past the window, a blizzard howled before the sheet of a blaze melted the scene. Warnings in the tube went crazy and the generator shut down. Taz crashed through the door and ran. He hit the wall of fire and curled into a ball. Down they went. The shuttle exploded. They were in a freefall spiraling to Earth. Taz had never fallen this far. His image was left behind like a cardboard cutout as he whooshed through clouds. They gained speed as they fell. His shield was calculating the impact that was imminent. It would be bad but they were going to survive. Taz spun in the air; he had to land back first. All resources were directed to the place of impact. Taz hit numerous branches aiding to slow his descent. He hit the ground and skidded across the ice and snow surface, downing trees and vegetation. He was on his back curled around Macey, arms crossed over his chest.

  They crashed through a snowbank and went careening off a small cliff, snow and rocks and branches tumbling with them, to splash into a lake, cracking the thin layer of ice and breaking the surface. Down Taz sank until they hit bottom. The shield closed off any opening, breathing for him or his shield would flood. Taz could see the surface. The bottom of the lake was covered in rock. Taz tucked his legs under him and jumped. He shot out of the water, bullet form, until the ground was close then, arms flailing, landed in a crouched position back on the cliff ledge.

  A blizzard battered him; his claws sank deep into the ground. He stood for a moment while his shield regrouped and formed a systems check on Taz and Macey. Both were fine, if not a little shaken. All his life his shield protected him, he was grateful it protected Macey. Although, on further analysis, by protecting Macey the shield in fact protected Taz.

  “Macey, you need to sleep so I can find us shelter. I can feel your distress. I’ve taken too much of a beating to calm you. Right now our safety is important.”

  Distress was an understatement. They’d fallen from the sky; her heart rate hammered against him. His shield needed to concentrate on what needed to be done first. Calming Macey was and was not top priority. The shield sealed the space between Taz’s throat and Macey. Within moments, the small amount of gas knocked her out. Taz had no idea he could do that until it was done. She quieted, her heart slowed. She was lulled into a safe dream.

  Taz looked in each direction and took a course. He began to move, bombarded with thoughts. They were trapped on Earth. There was no escape. All he could hope for was the Tonans getting what they wanted, leaving and the storms to stop. In his heart, he knew what Krish’s kind was. If by chance the storms stopped, it would be hundreds if not thousands of years before the Tonans would return. Taz would be ready for them.

  * * * *

  Macey stifled a scream when she woke and saw skeletons; a skull was a foot from her nose gazing sightlessly at her. She would have panicked further but felt Taz’s hand caress her cheek. Her heart slowed from its booming thunder to a hiccup and normal rhythm. She gazed around noting they were behind broken bars in a tunnel. A small fire blazed for warmth. She was wearing the strangest clothes.

  “Did we die and become pirates?” she asked. “Is there something about your alien past you’re keeping from me?”

  Taz was sprawled out before her. Barefoot and bare-chested he looked comfortable in their surroundings. He handed her a flask. A sip confirmed it was water.

  “There are lots of things in my alien past I haven’t told you. But dying and turning into a pirate isn’t one of them. I thought it odd humans kept other humans locked up in strange apparel; then again, all your clothes are weird. These bones aren’t real. Neither are the others in here.”

  Macey continued to glance around at the quiet faces on the either side of a tunnel, until a thought struck her.

  “Are we in Disney World? This is the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.”

  “I believe, now that you mention it, I saw half
a sign with ‘Disney’ on it. Hard to say. I see well, except swirling snow is exasperating. I was in a rush. There was this tunnel and an even odder one with miniature mechanical children. It was sad at first seeing abandoned children, I have seen a few. But when I touched one my shield made no attempt to scan for hurts. I’m guessing the mangy mutt over there is mechanical too.”

  “Did I really see what I saw? All the snow?”

  “Yep.”

  “We’re pretty far from my aunt’s home.”

  “The way I travel we’ll be there in less than an hour. I went up top to find food. All that survived in one store was hard round candy.”

  Taz lifted a huge round sucker from beside him. Macey broke off a piece and sucked on it. She continued to gaze around.

  “I used to love coming here. Every child should have a chance. It’s so magical. I hope it will be again soon.”

  “You feel safe here?”

  “Who wouldn’t? Besides I’m with you.”

  Macey cuddled up next to him. She had always wondered what it would be like to sleep in one of these attractions. The Haunted House being her favorite. Her thoughts as she fell asleep were sad. She wondered if Skylar and Haven ever had the chance to visit here. She also wondered if they were alive.

  In the morning when she woke, Macey was surprised to be tucked into the shield with Taz. He was moving at a good clip. The sun was out and the snow was melting so fast small rivers along roads were forming. Muck and debris broke off, forming indentations ravaged from the storms. Small hills dropped chunks of mud and rock. Taz traveled the Keys. Alligators lined the roads desperate to sun themselves. None went near Taz.

  Deep in the jungle-marsh setting, Taz stopped. Macey slipped to the ground. The air was cool and she shivered. She wrapped her arms around her chest. She was wearing only the small T-shirt with her shoulder bare. Taz told her she wore his tattoo. Her feet were bare on the cold ground. Her shorts were molded to her ass. The clothing he had draped over her in the tunnel was gone.

  “I need the direct sunlight for a while. You can rest while I regenerate.”